Naked Neil

Simply put I’m just happier and more comfortable naked, and I don’t tend to think about it much more deeply than that. There’s a growing trend of poor body image with over 61%¹ of British people feeling negative about their body image most of the time, and 9%¹ having had suicidal thoughts regarding their bodies in the previous year.

There’s loads of studies that demonstrate that naturism boosts body confidence. For me I don’t know if it’s cause or effect, but I just feel extremely fortunate that I’m happy in my body.

There’s actually a lot more naturists than people think, though most don’t feel safe or comfortable enough to ‘come out’ publicly about their naturism. I struggled with this for a long-time too, and it was only in my early 30s I started talking about it more openly with my friends and family.

A big study into naturism in the UK is performed every 10 years. The most recent one was in 2022 and 14%² of people, the equivalent of nearly 7 million Brits, described themselves as naturists or nudists. Most of these people will express their naturism at home, abroad or in safe “naturist-only” spaces, but there are thousands of naturists who enjoy walking and cycling in our countryside.

This is a common misconception. Simply put UK law relates to behaviours rather clothing choice. Sexual or malicious behaviours are illegal; passive behaviours or everyday activities aren’t (regardless of whether or not you’re dressed).

The police have published guidance³ that naturism or passive non-sexual nudity is legal. An extract from this guidance is included below:

I try to be respectful and considerate to others (naturism is all about mutual respect), but I also don’t want to restrict what makes me happy simply because someone somewhere might be offended.

Research demonstrates that most people are ok around naturists (88%² of people think that naturists are harmless or have no strong view on the matter). If this many people think naturism is harmless then I find it difficult to believe that people are more likely to be offended by naturism that some other aspects of life we happily accept. My personal experience of others’ responses is one primarily of curiosity, humour and respect. A YouGov survey also indicated that only 27%⁴ of UK adults thought that Brits didn’t get offended too easily by matters relating to sex or nudity.

In 2024 I commissioned a survey assessing how people visiting my local high street felt about me. The most common response amongst people who had seen me was “harmless”, and the most common response amongst people who hadn’t seen me was “unusual”. The full survey results were:

That said it’s still easy for me to visit businesses at quieter times where possible, or give someone a wider berth if necessary, so as to limit my impact and make it easier for everyone to co-exist peacefully beside each other.

All the businesses I visit have granted consent for me to pop by and I do my best to remain aware of my surroundings and the reactions of other people whilst in more public areas.

I’ve got no need or desire to be in more family orientated environments, and I respect that parents will all have different views and ways of raising their children. I hope and anticipate my lifestyle doesn’t have a negative impact on children, or anyone else for that matter.

Although there is a generalised concern about children being exposed to nakedness, there is little clarity about what the negative effects on children would be.

Following the first gay kiss in EasterEnders in 1989 the Sun wrote:

“The homosexual love scene between yuppie poofs was screened in the early evening when millions of children were watching”

Thankfully we’ve developed our understanding and moved beyond a time where we thought gayness was damaging for our children, and the research indicates that naturism also isn’t harmful.

A recent study⁵ on naturism and children published on behalf of the National Children’s Bureau concluded:

1) Adults who grew up in families with a positive attitude to nudity have better body image, better self-esteem, and better overall mental health.

2) There were indications that children living in a family environment where nudity is commonplace may have a better body image.

3) There was no evidence of an association between nudity in childhood and negative outcomes.

KidsRights⁶, OECD⁷ and UNICEF⁸ have also conducted research that ranks countries by the rights or well-being of their children. In all these studies countries with a high degree of socialised non-sexual nudity (e.g. Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Iceland, Switzerland or the Netherlands) consistently occupy all the top spots, with the UK placing well below mid-table.
We also know that in the UK children’s happiness has been trending downwards⁹ over the last decade and that appearance is the area of life children are most unhappy with:

The available research doesn’t necessarily prove that non-sexual nudity leads to positive outcomes for children. However there is strong evidence to demonstrate it doesn’t lead to negative outcomes, and suggests that in the UK we’ve got bigger problems to worry about for our children than boobs and bums.

Being open about my naturism definitely has its challenges (I’ve been physically assaulted twice, and had a few run-ins with the law all of which have been resolved in my favour), but also brings lots of benefits. Being accepted and welcomed in my local community has been a particularly powerful and wholesome experience for me.

I’m lucky that my friends and family are supportive, and it’s been great to see so many people are inquisitive and interested about naturism. There is a growing desire to explore naturism too – over a couple of years between 2021 and 2023 nearly 20 women in their 20s and 30s have taken their first public naturist steps into cafes and bars alongside me, and in 2022 the Freewilders (Sadie, Collin, Hannah and I) cycled 1,000 miles naked across the UK for charity with numerous people joining for short legs throughout the route.

1. Body Image Survey Results, House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, 2020
https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/2691/documents/26657/default

2. Naturism Survey, Ipsos, 2022
https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/14-percent-surveyed-describe-themselves-as-naturists-or-nudists

3. Naturism Guidance Document, College of Police, 2018

https://library.college.police.uk/docs/nudity.pdf

4. Nudity Survey, YouGov, 2014

https://ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/documents/Internal_Results_141029_Nudity_Website_xfrEPdJ.pdf

5. Think of the Children!, National Children’s Bureau, 2023

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/chso.12743

6. KidsRights Index, KidsRights, 2022
https://www.kidsrights.org/research/kidsrights-index

7. Child Well-being Dashboard, OECD, 2022

https://www.oecd.org/els/family/child-well-being/data/dashboard

8. Child Well-Being in Rich Countries, UNICEF, 2013 and 2020

https://www.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Report-card-briefing2b.pdf https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/Report-Card-16-Worlds-of-Influence-child-wellbeing.pdf

9. The Good Childhood Report, The Children’s Society, 2022

https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-09/GCR-2022-Full-Report.pdf